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American Free Press has confirmed that the huge Chinese shipping conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. has a significant presence at the Lazaro Cardenas seaport in Mexico, as well as other Mexican ports. The company has had effective control of both ends of the Panama Canal for the last seven years.

The Mexican ports link to the budding Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) toll road network by way of railroad cargo lines that head from the ports across Mexico to the United States border, providing a conduit to bypass U.S. West Coast seaports and haul ever-more massive quantities of imports into the United States.

The TTC is part of a planned vast network of tollways that, unless derailed by a growing number of concerned citizens, will ripple through many parts of the United States, functioning as a delivery network for goods flooding into the United States from foreign factories, although it appears U.S.-made goods would be exported via the same system.

Hutchison Whampoa’s Pacific Port at Lazaro Cardenas, located in the Mexican state of Michoacan, is especially significant. As reported by AFP on Dec. 18, 2006, officials from Lazaro Cardenas met in March 2006 with Kansas City, Mo., officials to sign “an historic cooperative trade agreement to establish a new trans-Pacific trade corridor that will alleviate delays and congestion at [U.S.] West Coast ports.”

This is another way of saying that at least part of the stream of imported merchandise flowing into those West Coast ports such as the one in Long Beach, Calif., could be redirected to the Cardenas port so these goods can be hauled into the United States with even greater efficiency.

Kansas City, located about 1,000 miles from the U.S.- Mexican border, has been slated as a major trade hub and U.S. Customs inspection location. As noted by Kansas City SmartPort Inc. President Chris Gutierrez, who was interviewed in early December by AFP, Kansas City has the infrastructure, location and overall assets to serve this function well.

Critics charge that having a major U.S. inspection point so far inland may create huge gaps in monitoring exactly what kinds of things are being shipped into the United States—which doesn’t sit well with American trucker-support groups such as Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).

OOIDA warns that under-trained Mexican truck drivers, in their poorly inspected trucks, pose a danger on the highways and could help bring terrorist elements into the United States.

According to Hutchison Whampoa’s own web site, this shipping conglomerate has a single-berth terminal situated in the highly industrial, deep-water Lazaro Cardenas port and plans a second phase there, which “includes the development of an 85-hectare deep-water, green field site with 1,350 meters of berth.”

Hutchison Whampoa, which controls 12% of all container port capacity in the world and employs 200,000 people, has long been alleged to be either an arm of the Chinese military or beholden to the communist regime—which considers the United States an adversary. This situation has troubled prominent Americans, such as the now deceased Adm. Thomas H Moorer, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who pointed out some years ago that Hutchison Whampoa already controls the Atlantic and Pacific seaports of the Panama Canal—that century-old American-made commercial waterway connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific that has a military function and is arguably one of the most strategic chokepoints on the globe.

So, against the backdrop of China’s current massive military build-up, the communist nation’s presence in various Western Hemisphere ports should be watched very carefully. This buildup, as repeatedly emphasized by Gus Stelzer, a retired General Motors executive, author and trade analyst, is funded to a large extent by the huge profits China makes selling goods tariff-free in the United States.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to run gargantuan trade deficits with China. As a proposed remedy, Stelzer advocates levying tariffs against China and other nations whose merchandise floods America while American industries, undercut by the onslaught, are forced to downsize, close or go offshore in order to survive.

Rarely, if ever, are American goods allowed to be sold in these nations anywhere near the extent that their goods are sold in the United States, says Stelzer.

OTHER VENTURES

Notably, Hutchison Whampoa—a company whose affiliates delve into the cruise ship business, telecommunications, real estate, hotels, PARKnSHOP grocery stores, Fortress electronics and housewares, along with energy, infrastructure, etc.—has a number of other Western Hemisphere port operations.

Hutchison Whampoa has the Ensenada International Terminal (EIT), “strategically situated 110 kilometers south of the U.S.-Mexico border along the Pacific Ocean,” Hutchison Whampoa literature states. It adds that EIT has undergone extensive redevelopment involving construction, dredging and new equipment purchases.

Another port maintained by Hutchison Whampoa is the Terminal Internacional de Manzanillo (TIMSA), which started its operations in 1999 and is “aimed at developing the container market on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Located at the Mexican port of Manzanillo, TIMSA is ideally situated for Asian trade with Mexico City and Guadalajara, as well as nearby industrialized states,” according to Hutchison Whampoa’s web site.

Hutchison Whampoa’s Panama Ports Company (PPC) operates the ports of Cristobal and Balboa located at each end of the Panama Canal
(large expansion projects are proceeding at both ports).

The shipping company—which has 15 mainland China operations—also runs a Western Hemisphere port in Buenos Aires, consisting of a state-of-the-art terminal with two ship berths, a container freight station and a logistics center; as well as in the Bahamas, where Hutchison Whampoa’s Freeport Container Port, a deepwater operation, provides “a transhipment center for the eastern seaboard of the Americas and the principal East/West line haul routes throughout the region,” according to company literature.

COMMUNIST CONNECTIONS

Hutchison Whampoa’s top executives include Li Tzar Kuoi, aged 41, who has been an executive director since 1995 and deputy chairman since 1999. Kuoi also sits on what is called the “Standing Committee of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of the People’s Republic of China.”

The top Hutchison Whampoa executive, Li Ka Shing, is considered the wealthiest Chinese individual in the world. Kuoi, named above, is Li Ka Shing’s eldest son.

According to the Internet encyclopedia, Wikipedia, “Li was invited by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to become a member of the board of directors of the China International Trust and Investment Corp. (CITIC) to support the economic reform initiatives that Deng was attempting to develop.

CITIC is China’s largest conglomerate and is 42% owned by the government of China. It serves as the chief investment arm of China’s central government and holds ministry status on the Chinese State Council. Li served only one year on CITIC’s board before resigning his directorship. For many years, he served as vice chairman of the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank
(HSBC).”

Various reports over the last few years, including a NewsMax.com report of June 13, 2001, note that Hutchison Whampoa’s subsidiary, HIT, has “business ventures with the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) which is owned by the People’s Liberation Army.” HIT stands for Hutchison International Terminals.

COSCO, which failed in a notorious Clinton administration- backed attempt to lease the former U.S. naval base in Long Beach, Calif., has been criticized for shipping Chinese missiles, missile components, jet fighters and other weapons technologies to nations such as Libya, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan, NewsMax reported in 2001.

American Free Press reporter Mark Anderson can be reached at truthhound2@... Watch future AFP issues for more on America’s welcome acceptance of biofuels and other energy alternatives, helping end our gluttonous addiction to foreign petroleum.

The State Department's top legal adviser told international lawyers on June 6 that President Bush is so committed to the primacy of international law that he has taken his home state of Texas to court on behalf of a group of Mexican killers. The Mexicans had been sentenced to death for murdering U.S. citizens, including young children.

John B. Bellinger III, legal adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, cited the case, Mexico v. United States of America, in trying to convince the attorneys that the administration is doing what it can to enforce international law in U.S. courts.

In the case, Bush has come down on the same side as the U.N.'s International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled14-1 on behalf of Mexico against the U.S. The ICJ was headed at the time by a judge from communist China, who also ruled against the U.S.

Bellinger's audience was gathered at The Hague, a city in the Netherlands which is home to over 100 international organizations, including the U.N.'s International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

Sworn in as the Legal Adviser to the Secretary of State on April 8, 2005, Bellinger is describedby the State Department as "the principal adviser on all domestic and international law matters to the Department of State, the Foreign Service, and the diplomatic and consular posts abroad."

The Bellinger speech, designed to convince the pro-U.N. globalists in attendance that Bush is really on their side, should have been big news. Not only did he praise Bush for coming down on the side of foreign killers of Americans, in a major court case with international implications, but he demonstrated how far the administration is prepared to go to impress the "international community."

In a major disclosure, Bellinger said that Bush is currently seeking immediate Senate ratification of 35 different "treaty packages." He said these include the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a measure rejected by President Reagan and his U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. Bellinger didn't name any of the other "treaty packages" that the administration wants to push through. But a number of radical treaties are known to be pending before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Joseph Biden.

Once again, it appears that Bush wants to ignore the concerns of conservatives in order to work with liberal Democrats and advance a controversial legislative agenda.

International Law

"To put it simply," Bellinger said, "our critics sometimes paint the United States as a country willing to duck or shrug off international obligations when they prove constraining or inconvenient. That picture is wrong. The United States does believe that international law matters. We help develop it, rely on it, abide by it, and--contrary to some impressions--it has an important role in our nation's Constitution and domestic law."

Bellinger's extraordinary speech, coming at a time when Bush is under fire for failing to protect America from a Mexican invasion of illegal aliens, demonstrates how the President has been working on behalf of Mexican interests--in this case, convicted Mexican killers claiming their "rights" were violated under a treaty--against the interests of his own nation. When the implications of the Mexico v. United States case are widely known, it can only further harm the administration's chances for an amnesty-for-illegal-aliens bill.

Conservatives have shown, through derailing the bill, that they are not content to play dumb or go to sleep when the issue involves American sovereignty.

Rights for Killers

Many Americans are not aware that the Mexico v. United States case, also known as the Avena decision, was decided against the U.S. by the U.N.'s International Court of Justice (ICJ) and that the Bush Justice Department sided with the ICJ. What's more, the Bush Justice Department took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to force U.S. states to legally recognize the "rights" of Mexicans who kill Americans on U.S. soil. A decision from the Supreme Court is pending.

The case was taken to the ICJ by the government of Mexico on behalf of 51 of its citizens who had carried out these murders in the U.S. The argument advanced by Mexico on behalf of the killers was that they were not afforded a timely opportunity to meet with Mexican representatives in the U.S. known as consular officers. This was said to be required under the Vienna Convention.

Current figuresshow 124 foreign nationals on death row in the U.S. Fifty-five of those are from Mexico. Most of them are on death row in California or Texas.

Bellinger explained that "The cases covered by the ICJ judgment all involved heinous murders, including of young children. Some proceedings had gone on for many years, with the victims' families patiently waiting while our state and then federal courts reviewed the outcome to ensure that it fully complied with our laws. Yet the ICJ judgment nonetheless required us to review these cases again to consider the unlikely possibility that the outcome would have been different if the defendant had been asked whether he wanted his consular officer notified of his arrest."

The ICJ "ordered the United States to review the cases of 51 Mexican nationals convicted of capital crimes," Bellinger told the audience. Citing U.S. sovereignty and the concerns of the victims' families, the Bush Administration could have ignored the ICJ ruling. But Bush, "acting on the advice of the Secretary of State," decided to "require each State involved to give the 51 convicts a new hearing," he said. Hence, Bush sided with convicted killers from Mexico against the American victims and their families.

Presidential Power

How did the President do this? On February 28, 2005, Bush simply made a "determination" and assumed the power to tell the states what to do.

He declared, "I have determined, pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, that the United States will discharge its international obligations under the decision of the International Court of Justice in the Case Concerning Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America), 2004 I.C.J. 128 (Mar. 31), by having state courts give effect to the decision in accordance with general principles of comity in cases filed by the 51 Mexican nationals addressed in that decision."

The Bush Justice Department arguedthat the president has the power to do whatever he wants to do. "In particular circumstances, the President may decide that the United States will not comply with an ICJ decision and direct a United States veto of any proposed Security Council enforcement measure," it said. "Here, however, the President has determined that the foreign policy interests of the United States justify compliance with the ICJ's decision."

But Bush's home state of Texas decided that Bush did not have that power.

Texas Says No

Bellinger acknowledged that "The first defendant to try to take advantage of the President's decision was in the state of Texas, which objected to the President's decision. In response, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the President had no power to intervene in its affairs, even to obtain compliance with an order of the ICJ. This Administration has gone to the Supreme Court of the United States to reverse this decision. We expect a ruling from that Court this time next year."

So here we have a case of the Bush Administration going to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to enforce compliance with an international court! And the case involves litigating against the President's home state of Texas!

There's an old saying, "Don't mess with Texas." Well, Bush did.

Bush Promotes New Treaties

Trying to impress his international audience, Bellinger declared that "international law binds us in our domestic system" and that the Bush Administration entered into 429 international agreements and treaties last year alone.

Bellinger bragged that "...I have a staff of 171 lawyers, who work every day to furnish advice on legal matters, domestic and international, and to promote the development of international law as a fundamental element of our foreign policy."

According to Bellinger, "Our Constitution does not prescribe isolationism. To the contrary, it promotes our active participation in the development and enforcement of international law."

This will be news to patriotic Americans.

Even in cases where the administration seems opposed to some new international institution, Bellinger made it clear that the opposition is only half-hearted.

For example, while Bush never sought ratification of the ICC, Bellinger said that "...over the past couple of years we have worked hard to demonstrate that we share the main goals and values of the Court." He explained, "We did not oppose the Security Council's referral of the Darfur situation to the ICC, and have expressed our willingness to consider assisting the ICC Prosecutor's Darfur work should we receive an appropriate request. We supported the use of ICC facilities for the trial of Charles Taylor, which began this week here in The Hague. These steps reflect our desire to find practical ways to work with ICC supporters to advance our shared goals of promoting international criminal justice..."

Bellinger did not explain what would happen when the ICC decided to lodge charges against U.S. soldiers or officials over "war crimes" in Iraq or elsewhere.

New Global Warming Treaty

Anticipating Bush's embrace at the G-8 meeting in Germany of a new and much-tougher global warming treaty, Bellinger said that the U.S. was pursuing "a host of climate-related measures, both domestically and internationally," including "a new post-2012 framework on climate change." Al Gore would have been proud.

In the only remarks that could please conservatives, Bellinger said that the Bush Administration would NOT pursue ratification of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a radical pro-abortion feminist measure. He said that "...we have not been persuaded that the binding international obligations contained in that treaty would add anything to the measures we take domestically."

Considering that Bush is pushing UNCLOS--and dozens of other treaties--and that he sided with Mexico against his own country and his own state in the Avena case, the failure to push ratification of CEDAW may not be hailed as much of a victory by conservatives. Indeed, Bellinger seemed to be arguing that CEDAW was not necessary because U.S. domestic law was already as radical as the U.N. treaty and that the administration was perfectly happy with that state of affairs.

Bellinger closed his speech by saying, "The principles that The Hague symbolizes are ours too, and our common future rests on them."